Technology News

Quick charging station closes infrastructure gap

April 19, 2012 | Christoph Hammerschmidt | 222904475

Besides powerful yet affordable batteries, the charging infrastructure is one of the "missing links" to be closed for mass acceptance of electromobility. Researchers of the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) in Germany now claim a "decisive" achievement: They developed a fast-charging station for vehicles that also serves as a service point for feeding back stored energy into the smart grid.

The charging station designed by the researchers around professor Constantinos Sourkounis in cooperation with aeras GmbH offers a charging power of 50kW. In contrast to existing implementations, the charging station features a rather compact design with a height of 130cm and a diameter of 70cm. It is also more versatile than other designs - it can be equipped with a range of widely used interfaces such as the Japanese-developed CHAdeMO interface or a Type-2 connector, explained Sourkounis. The integrated bidirectional converter enables to feed energy back into a smart grid.

In order to roll out a comprehensive infrastructure it is necessary to perform costly and time-consuming functional tests after the installation of such as charging station, Sourkounis said. The same holds true for maintenance and service works at the stations. In order to reduce these efforts, the research team also developed a mobile test device for the charging station. The tester enables service persons to perform on-site checks of charging stations which support the CHAdeMO protocol. It emulates the behavior of an electric vehicle, plays through error scenarios and monitors the operation. The tester is adaptable to any other standard.

In their project, the Bochum researchers focus on the suitability for everyday use. Having successfully concluded the test phase, the iQ-PIT (as the charging station has been christianized) is now used for studies on the long-distance capability of electric vehicles.